2017 Stanley Cup Finals
The 2017 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League (NHL)'s 2016–17 season and the culmination of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Eastern Conference champion and defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Western Conference champion Nashville Predators four games to two to win their second consecutive and fifth overall championship. Pittsburgh also became the first team since the 1997 and 1998 Detroit Red Wings to win two consecutive Stanley Cup titles. They had home ice advantage in the series due to their better regular season record. The series began on May 29, 2017 and concluded on June 11, 2017. The Penguins made their second consecutive Finals appearance, this was the third time in their history they have done this following their appearances in 1991 and 1992, 2008 and 2009. No team had appeared in consecutive Finals since the latter year (which was a rematch between the Penguins and Detroit Red Wings). The Predators made their debut in the Finals. This was the second consecutive season in which a Western Conference team made their first appearance in the Finals; the San Jose Sharks made their Finals debut last year. This was also the first time in NHL history that two US-born head coaches faced off against each other in the Stanley Cup Finals. The series saw the first two games won by the Penguins, with the Predators coming back winning two games at home and tying the series at 2 games a piece, however, the Penguins would win game 5 at home and game 6 in Nashville 2-0 on June 11 2017 to defeat the Predators in six games and win the Stanley Cup once again. The Penguins became the first team since the Detroit Red Wings in 1997 and 1998 respectively to repeat as back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions. Pittsburgh Coach Mike Sullivan became one of just three coaches to win a Stanley Cup in his first two seasons as a coach with his team, joining Pete Green who won with the Ottawa Senators back in 1920 and 1921 and Toe Blake who won with the Montreal Canadiens in 1956 and 1957. This was the first final since 1983 that no game was decided by one goal. |- !Location(s) |Bridgestone Arena (3, 4, 6) PPG Paints Arena (1, 2, 5) |- !Coaches |Nashville: Peter Laviolette Pittsburgh: Mike Sullivan |- !Captains |Nashville: Mike Fisher Pittsburgh: Sidney Crosby |- !National anthems |Nashville: Martina McBride (game 3), Dierks Bentley (game 4), Faith Hill (game 6) Pittsburgh: Jeff Jimerson |- !Referees |Wes McCauley (1, 3, 5), Brad Meier (1, 3, 5), Dan O'Halloran (2, 4, 6), Kevin Pollock(2, 4, 6) |- !Dates |May 29 – June 11 |- !MVP |Sidney Crosby (Penguins) |- !Series-winning goal |Patric Hornqvist (18:25, Third, G6) |- !Networks |Canada (English): CBC Canada (French): TVA Sports United States (English): NBC and NBCSN |- !Announcers |(CBC) Jim Hughson, Craig Simpson (TVA) Felix Seguin, Patrick Lalime, Renaud Lavoie (NBC/NBCSN) Mike Emrick, Eddie Olczyk, Pierre McGuire (NHL International) Steve Mears, Kevin Weekes (NBC Sports Radio & NHL Radio) Kenny Albert, Joe Micheletti, Ray Ferraro |- | colspan="2" | * ← 2016 * Stanley Cup Finals |} Teams Pittsburgh Penguins This was Pittsburgh's second consecutive Finals appearance (after defeating the San Jose Sharks in six games the previous season) and sixth appearance overall. The Penguins did not make any major transactions during the off-season nor regular season, instead signing head coach Mike Sullivan to a three-year extension. However, following a season-ending injury to Kris Letang, Pittsburgh acquired defencemen Ron Hainsey & Mark Streit via trades. Pittsburgh earned 111 points (50 wins, 21 losses, and 11 overtime losses) during the regular season to finish second in the Metropolitan Division and second overall among playoff teams. Center and team captain Sidney Crosby led the club in points with 89, finishing second in the league and led both the club and the league in goal-scoring with 44 goals during the regular season. Teammate Phil Kessel led the team in assists with 47. In the playoffs, the Penguins defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets in five games, eliminated the Presidents' Trophy-winning Washington Capitals for a second consecutive year, this time in seven games, and edged the Ottawa Senators in seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals. Nashville Predators This is Nashville's first Finals appearance in its 19-year history. During the off-season, Nashville traded defenceman and long-time team captain Shea Weber for defenceman P.K. Subban and during the regular season, they traded for forwards Cody McLeod & Vernon Fiddler. The Predators also re-signed forward Filip Forsberg during the off-season. Nashville finished with 94 points (41 wins, 29 losses, and 12 overtime losses) during the regular season to finish as the second wild-card in the Western Conference, and the 16th overall and last seeded playoff team. Forsberg and Viktor Arvidsson tied for the team lead in regular-season goal-scoring with 31 each. Ryan Johansen led the team in assists with 47. Arvidsson and Johansen both tied for the team lead in points with 61. The Predators started the playoffs by defeating the top-seeded Chicago Blackhawks in four games, becoming the first wild-card and eighth-seeded team in NHL history to sweep the top-seeded team in their conference. They also eliminated both the St. Louis Blues and the Anaheim Ducks in six games respectively. In the second round of the playoffs, Kevin Fiala sustained an injury and in the Conference Finals, Johansen would also receive an injury as well; both forwards would sustain serious leg injuries and neither would be able to return. For Predators head coach Peter Laviolette, this marks his third time being in the Stanley Cup Finals with a third different team. He previously coached the Carolina Hurricanes to the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals (in which he won the Cup) and the Philadelphia Flyers to the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals. Series Game One In the first period of Game 1, both teams remained scoreless until the final five minutes; Nashville forwards Calle Jarnkrok and James Neal were both called on penalties for the same time period and on the 5-on-3 power play Evgeni Malkin took a pass from captain Sidney Crosby to put the Penguins up 1–0. A minute and 15 seconds later, Conor Sheary scored after another pass from Crosby; in the final 17 seconds of the period, Nick Bonino gave Pittsburgh its third goal. The Penguins had no shots on goal in the second period while the Predators put off nine shots with one of those shots going into the net by Ryan Ellis on the power play. Nashville then tied the game in the third period. However, the Predators' comeback would be foiled as Penguins rookie Jake Guentzel gave Pittsburgh the lead back on its first shot since the first period. Bonino's second goal of the game as an empty-netter would end the game 5–3. Game Two During the first period, the Predators received their first lead in a Finals game when Pontus Aberg went around defenceman Olli Maatta on a single effort to score his second of the playoffs. The Penguins tied it up with 3:24 left in the first period when Jake Guentzel's shot sneaked in for his eleventh of the playoffs. After a scoreless second period in which the Predators doubled the number of shots compared to the Penguins, Pittsburgh ignited in the third period scoring three goals in 3:18. The first goal was by Guentzel who became the first rookie since Dino Ciccarelli to score twelve goals in a single playoff season (Dino scored 14 during his rookie season). The next two goals were scored 15 seconds apart and also prompted Predators head coach Peter Laviolette to replace goaltender Pekka Rinne with Juuse Saros. The Penguins would hold off the Predators' six shots in the final period to win Game 2 4−1. Game Three In game three, Jake Guentzel came within one goal of Ciccarelli's rookie record when a shot 2:46 into the game got past the Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne. In the second period, the Predators scored 42 seconds apart to not only tie the game, but take the lead. The first goal for the Predators came when defenceman Roman Josi fired a slap shot past Matt Murray. The second goal was on a wrist shot blasted by Frederick Gaudreau. James Neal would then give the Predators a two goal lead with 23 seconds left in the period. In the third period, a breakaway by Craig Smith gave the Predators a three goal lead and a goal by Mattias Ekholm would be the insurance goal in a 5–1 victory for Nashville. Near the end of the game, several misconducts were assessed after a cross checking by Phil Kessel gathered a crowd and fights broke out. Game Four In Game 4, Calle Jarnkrok scored the first goal, but a breakaway set up by Brian Dumoulin for Sidney Crosby tied the score heading into the second period. In the second period, after a Penguins breakaway was stopped by Pekka Rinne, Predators forward Frederick Gaudreau's wrap-around shot appeared to be stopped by Matt Murray, however, upon a video review, the puck snuck in under Murray's paddle before being swatted out. A breakaway goal by Viktor Arvidsson would give the Predators their third goal of the game. Rinne would stop all nine shots faced in the third period and an empty-net goal by Filip Forsberg would tie the series 2–2 in a 4–1 victory for Nashville. Game Five In game five, Justin Schultz scored for Pittsburgh early in the first period on the power play. The following two goals by the Penguins would then put goaltender Juuse Saros into the net. Pittsburgh continued their goal-scoring into the second period starting first with Conor Sheary. Jake Guentzel would tie the rookie record for points in a single playoff season (21) assisting on the first goal of the period. The second goal came from Phil Kessel which gave Sidney Crosby his third point of the night. The third goal by Ron Hainsey gave Kessel his third point of the night along with Crosby. This was the first period in which the Penguins out shot the Predators. No goals were scored in the third period giving Matt Murray the shut out; in doing so, he became the first rookie since Cam Ward to record a shut out in the Finals. During the third period, 20 penalties were assessed, the most in a single period since Game 3 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals. Game Six In Game 6, the game remained scoreless for two periods until the final two minutes in which former-Predator Patric Hornqvist scored the latest Stanley Cup winning goal (without going into overtime) with 1:35 left in the game. Carl Hagelin would add an empty net goal to end the game 2–0. With the win, the Pittsburgh Penguins won their second consecutive Stanley Cup and fifth overall, winning all on the road. Rosters Pittsburgh Penguins Nashville Predators Pittsburgh Penguins – 2017 Stanley Cup champions The 2017 Stanley Cup was presented to Penguins captain Sidney Crosby by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman following the Penguins' 2–0 win over the Predators in game six. Defencemen *3 Olli Maatta *4 Justin Schultz *6 Trevor Daley *8 Brian Dumoulin *28 Ian Cole *32 Mark Streit *58 Kris Letang *65 Ron Hainsey Wingers *14 Chris Kunitz (A) *17 Bryan Rust *23 Scott Wilson *34 Tom Kuhnhackl *43 Conor Sheary *45 Josh Archibald *59 Jake Guentzel *62 Carl Hagelin *72 Patric Hornqvist *81 Phil Kessel Centres *7 Matt Cullen *13 Nick Bonino *37 Carter Rowney1 *71 Evgeni Malkin (A) *87 Sidney Crosby © Goaltenders *29 Marc-Andre Fleury *30 Matt Murray *1 Played both centre and wing. ;Coaching and Administrative Staff'':'' ;Engraving notes'': '' *'Player Notes' #2 Chad Ruhwedel - played 34 regular season games and 11 games in the playoffs. Missed all of the final two rounds due to injury. Unknown if he will receive an injury petition. #45 Josh Archibald Winger - played 10 regular season games and four playoff games, also played 66 games in minors - qualifies for playing in the finals. #58 Kris Letang Defence - played 41 games. He missed the last 41 regular season games, all 25 playoff games due to an injury - qualifies to be included. Television & Radio In Canada, the series was broadcast by CBC Television (through "Hockey Night in Canada" as produced by Sportsnet through a brokerage agreement) in English and TVA Sports in French. In the U.S., the Final was split between NBC and NBCSN. NBC aired games one and four, plus games five and six, while NBCSN aired games two and three. The NHL on Westwood One/NBC Sports Radio carried the games throughout the United States on radio and through online streaming while the home calls of Nashville (WPRT-FM/Predators Radio Network) and Pittsburgh (WXDX-FM/Penguins Radio Network) was available both over the air in their home markets and through online streaming. Category:Stanley Cup Finals Category:Pittsburgh Penguins Category:Nashville Predators